Buckeye

Felix looks for a new job and finds the search difficult. He has never truly had a job interview, and he finds that he is not an attractive potential employee. He also struggles to put real effort into the process. Then, it occurs to Felix that he no longer has to be an executive. He gets a job making furniture that pays half of what he used to make, but he enjoys it. Margaret is irritated and confused, wondering why he would waste his education and how they are going to manage financially. She makes very little teaching dance and cannot get a better job without hiring a babysitter.

Felix, however, is happier. He makes a friend at work, another veteran named Bishop, and eventually, Felix opens up about what happened when his ship sank. Felix admits that he’s been seeing visions of Augie (whom he characterizes as a friend) on the street and in shops, despite the fact that he drowned when the ship went down. Bishop assures him that many men have the same problem after losing friends in the war. He suggests seeing a psychiatrist, but Felix balks.

Later, however, Felix sees Becky’s ad and makes an appointment with her. He brings Tom along, and Cal is home when they arrive. Cal recognizes them as Margaret’s husband and son, and when Tom removes his hat, he notices the cowlick. Cal’s chest tightens as he realizes the significance of that trait.

Becky is unable to contact any spirits for Felix, but he makes another appointment, which proves to be more successful. She is able to tell him key details that she shouldn’t know, including the name of his ship. He wants to ask about Augie but feels that he cannot risk it.

Skip Jenkins is now nine years old. He knows Tom by sight, even though Tom is younger, because of Tom’s bright red hair. One day, he notices several older kids beating Tom up, and he intervenes on Tom’s behalf. Afterward, he tells Tom that if an older boy attacks him, he should kick him in the groin. It isn’t fair, but neither is picking on smaller boys.

After that, they forge a friendship and begin riding their bikes together around Bonhomie. Margaret frets about this friendship, but she cannot explain why to anyone, least of all Felix. Felix is untroubled by the friendship despite the boys’ age difference (which Margaret points out), and he casually adds that Skip’s mother is a psychic and that he consulted her. Margaret is shocked by this news and explains that she meant for him to consult a psychiatrist, not a psychic.

Skip and Tom ride all over town but particularly enjoy visiting Everett. He is cantankerous and strange, and his house and yard are full of bizarre objects because of his hoarding. Everett carries on much the same as he always has until his dog dies: He writes an angry letter to the president about the Korean War, gets drunk, and accidentally burns his house down. He survives because he spent the night in his bomb shelter.

With nowhere else to go, Everett moves in with Cal and Becky. Becky is nervous at first, but Everett gives up both cigarettes and alcohol. He integrates into the family and, after observing their family dynamics, apologizes to Cal for his bad parenting. He tells Becky that he misses his typewriter, and she gives him hers. When he adds that he misses his Zane Grey novels, she gets him a library card. At the library, he meets another elderly veteran who enjoys Grey, and they form a book club that meets once a week.

Felix returns to Becky twice. The first time, she asks him if he had a monkey during the war, and he is shocked: On R&R, he and Augie had spent time with a monkey who belonged to one of the locals. Becky tells him that a spirit wants to speak to him and that the spirit is now in the company of this monkey. The spirit wants Felix to say his name first. Felix feels that he can’t, and he flees.

Felix cannot decide whether to return to Becky, but when he again thinks that he sees Augie on the street, he does. This time, he brings a piece of paper on which he’s written a note to Augie. He tells Becky that the note is extremely personal, and she intuits the nature of his relationship with Augie.

Augie speaks to Felix through Becky. Becky explains that Augie loves Felix, that he isn’t angry, and that Felix has to “keep swimming.” Becky is moved by the experience in a way that she never has been during her séances. Felix feels relief wash over him. When he leaves, he feels lighter. He buys a Christmas tree on the way home and is sure that he will finally be able to leave the war behind. 

It is now 1954. Skip and Tom’s friendship is going strong, but Cal feels a special pang when he sees Tom. Margaret is also unnerved by the boys’ friendship, and she wonders if the secret will ever come to light. She cannot be certain that Tom is really Cal’s, but his cowlick makes it seem likely.

Life proceeds normally until Margaret takes the family’s winter jackets to be dry-cleaned at the beginning of spring. When the dry cleaner returns them, he gives Margaret a small piece of paper that was in Felix’s jacket.

Margaret reads the note that Felix had taken to Becky’s and wonders to whom it was written. She thinks back over the course of their entire, difficult marriage and wants to speak with Lydia. She calls the orphanage and finds out that Lydia died six months ago. A couple of days later, she wakes to find Skip in their kitchen and angrily kicks him out. Felix and Tom are both upset, and Felix calls Cal and Becky to explain.

Later, Felix confronts Margaret, and Margaret, in turn, confronts Felix about the note, his lack of physical attraction for her, and all their marital issues. Felix admits everything. He explains that he thought marrying Margaret could “fix” him. He never intended to hurt her and was always sure that his love would grow over the years.

Margaret is stunned. She argues that she is a real person with only one life to live, not someone else’s experiment. She tells him about her affair and its timing, but Felix does not want to know the name of the man.

The next day, Margaret meets up with Cal. She tells him that she is sure that he is Tom’s father and that both Felix and Becky have a right to know. She writes Becky a letter explaining everything and then packs the car with her belongings. She writes another letter, this one to Felix. She identifies Cal as Tom’s father but adds that Felix is also Tom’s father: He raised him, and the two love each other.

Just as she is pulling away from the house, Tom returns. Margaret does not allow herself to look at him directly. As she leaves Bonhomie, she wonders if this mixture of sadness and guilt is what her mother felt when she left her at the orphanage.